Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered his first public sermon in five years and stressed that Israel “won’t last long.” He backed the Palestinian and Lebanese movements against Israel on Friday. Addressing his tens of thousands of his supporters in Tehran, Khamenei justified Iran’s missile attacks as “legal.” He also called Hamas’s attack on the Jewish nation on October 7 as “legitimate.”
Backing Hamas and Hezbollah Resistance
With a gun placed beside him during his speech, Khamenei declared that Israel would not prevail against Hamas or Hezbollah, as the crowd chanted in solidarity, “We are with you.” The supreme leader praised Hamas’s actions, describing them as a “correct move” in their ongoing struggle against Israeli occupation. He emphasized, “No international law has the right to object or protest against the Lebanese and Palestinians for standing up for themselves against the occupation.”
Khamenei also voiced support for Hezbollah, calling it a “blessed tree” that flourished under the leadership of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah, was recently killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. Khamenei lauded Nasrallah as a symbolic figure of resistance against the “Zionist enemy,” and assured the crowd that his legacy would continue to inspire future struggles. “His martyrdom will only increase this influence,” he stated.
Defiance In The Face Of Threats
The sermon was not just a show of religious authority but also a public statement of defiance amid growing tensions and threats to Khamenei’s own life. Israel, which had been targeted in missile strikes earlier in the week, has openly vowed to retaliate. Khamenei, however, appeared unfazed, asserting that Israel is merely a tool used by the United States to maintain dominance over regional lands and resources.
“There is no doubt that the Zionists and the Americans are dreaming. The Zionist entity will be uprooted from the ground; it has no roots, it is fake, unstable, and exists only because of American support,” Khamenei declared, making his stance against Israel and its Western backers unequivocal.
Khamenei Paid Tribute To Nasrallah
During the sermon, Khamenei paid tribute to Nasrallah, stressing the symbolic and strategic importance of the Hezbollah leader’s contributions to the resistance against Israel. He called on Muslims worldwide to support the “blooded people of Lebanon” and stand firm in the ongoing battle for the al-Aqsa mosque. “It is the duty and responsibility of all Muslims to support Lebanon’s jihad,” Khamenei told the crowd.
This historic sermon comes just days after Iran launched a barrage of 180 missiles targeting Israeli infrastructure. The last time Khamenei led a Friday sermon was in January 2020, following Iran’s missile attack on a U.S. army base in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of top Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani.
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